BOCA RATON, Fla., Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- "I can feel the chill water drip down, beads of fresh anguish, a salty waterfall trickling my chin," read BAK Middle School eighth grade student, Michael Wang, from his poem "Tears" at the recent seventh annual Oce Future Authors Project  book signing at Spanish River Library in Boca Raton.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101018/CG84120LOGO )

Michael opened the ceremony to unveil the book, Pens and Paper: Our Weapons of Mass Construction. The book is a compilation of the works by the more than 40 Palm Beach County middle and high school students who participated in the Oce Future Authors Project, a public-private partnership between Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management, and the School District of Palm Beach County.

More than 100 people attended the book signing, where the students saw their published works for the first time and were able to sign copies for family, friends, school officials and community leaders. Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent of Curriculum and Learning Keith Oswald, was one of the first fans in line. "There's no limit on what can be accomplished when we work together for the good of our children," he said. "This project is indeed a model for public-private partnerships. Programs like this offer students an invaluable opportunity to expand their educational experience." 

City of Boca Raton Deputy Mayor Susan Haynie also was on hand to congratulate the students, "Few people ever get to experience the exhilaration of becoming published," she told the students. "Yet, this morning, all of you who participated in the Future Authors Project will have the chance to autograph your very own published works. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing some of your names on the New York Times Best Seller List some day."

Francis McMahon, vice president of marketing, Production Printing Systems, a division of Oce North America, said the book signing event was a unique opportunity to witness the students' passion for writing. 

"How exciting it has been to watch nearly 350 Palm Beach County students enjoy the thrill of polishing their writing skills and becoming published authors," he said. "Being here today to recognize the participants in the seventh annual Oce Future Author's Project is just as exciting as celebrating our first year."

About the Oce Future Authors Project

In its seventh year, Oce Future Authors Project accepted applications this year from nearly 100 students who wanted to spend part of their summer vacations learning how to become published authors. The program begins with an intense eight-day writing workshop.Students gain insight into the process of writing, editing, and digitally publishing books through interactions with Oce executives, published authors, and licensed language arts teachers. Writings from each student are then compiled, professionally published and digitally printed in final book form by the Boca Raton-based Oce North America Production Printing Systems division. Since the program's inception in 2006, nearly 350 students have participated in the Oce Future Authors Project writing workshops. 

The program is a partnership between the School District of Palm Beach County and Oce North America, and is made possible with generous grants from the Lawrence Sanders Foundation; Maroone, an AutoNation Company; and Xplor International, a not-for-profit educational and networking association serving users and suppliers of document technologies.

The teachers for the 2012 class were: Nicole Adamo, who teaches at Don Estridge Middle School; Katrina Sapp Holder, a playwright and short story author who also teaches at Don Estridge Middle School; and Cartheda T. Mann, the chair of the English department and writing coach at Glades Central Community High School. Secondary Literacy Program Planner Diana Fedderman supervises the program for the District.

For more information on how to support the program, contact the Executive Director of the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County Mary Kay Murray at murraymk@palmbeach.k12.fl.us.

For more information about the Oce Future Authors Project, visit www.oceusa.com/futureauthors.

For more information, please visit www.oceusa.com.

Contact Tonya Powers at tonya.powers@oce.com for photos of the event.

About Oce
Oce is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Oce offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Oce is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Oce customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Oce is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. Oce North America is headquartered in Trumbull, CT, with additional business units in Chicago, IL and Boca Raton, FL. For more information, visit www.oce.com.

Oce and Canon: Stronger together
In 2010 Oce joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line-up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 198,000 employees worldwide. Global net sales in 2011 totalled USD 45.6 billion. Visit the Canon Inc. website at www.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With approximately $45.6 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents registered in 2011* and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2012. In 2012, for the ninth consecutive year, Canon U.S.A. has received the PCMag.com Readers' Choice Award for Service and Reliability. Committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, Canon U.S.A. provides 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

*Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.
All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Oce North America